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by Hashem Osseiran and Jean-Marc Mojon Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Rescuers combed through the rubble of Beirut port Friday in a search for survivors watched breathlessly by relatives of the missing, after an investigation into the huge blast made its first arrests. Shock has turned to anger in Lebanon since Tuesday’s colossal explosion killed at least 153 people and devastated swathes of the capital, with security forces firing tear gas at […]
by Becca MILFELD with AFP Bureaus Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Daily coronavirus deaths in the US surged to a three-month high of over 2,000 on Thursday and the number of cases passed 19 million globally, pushing many nations to further ratchet up restrictions in the battle against the pandemic. The world’s hardest-hit country, the United States, has seen a major coronavirus resurgence since the end of June, adding 2,060 deaths in […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Lebanon recorded 255 coronavirus cases Thursday — its highest single-day infection tally — after a monstrous blast upended a planned lockdown and sent thousands streaming into overflowing hospitals, already struggling to cope. The health ministry figures were reported by the state-run National News Agency, which also announced two new deaths. They bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Lebanon to 4,604, including 70 deaths since the outbreak first began in […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order barring transactions with the Chinese parent company of social media platform TikTok after 45 days. “The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security,” the order said. “The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order… any transaction by any person, or with respect to any […]
(Eagle News) — A Filipina overseas worker who survived the horrific blasts in Beirut, Lebanon early this week described the incident that had killed at least 149 people and injured around 5,000 more. Raquel Bautista, an OFW in Lebanon, was interviewed by EBC’s Eagle News Service Bureau in Lebanon, where she was hospitalized after being injured in the blasts. Bautista described how glass shards injured her arms and legs, but thankfully she did not suffer […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Lebanese security forces late Thursday fired tear gas to disperse dozens of anti-government demonstrators angered by a cataclysmic blast widely seen as the most shocking expression yet of their government’s incompetence. The scuffles in central Beirut took place in a ravaged street leading to parliament, the wreckage from Tuesday’s explosion still littering the entire area. Protesters had sparked a blaze, vandalized stores and lobbed stones at security forces, according to the […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s health ministry on Thursday denied that the country is facing a second wave of COVID-19 infections, despite a spike in cases of the virus in recent days. According to the Spanish government’s own figures, over the past seven days there have been 19,405 new coronavirus cases registered, an average of 2,772 per day. A week earlier the rate was an average 1,913 cases per day and the week before that […]
JOHNANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — The number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to over one million, with more than half registered in South Africa, according to an AFP count late Thursday. The continent’s worst-hit nation has registered 538,184 infections, including over 8,000 new cases on Thursday, and 9,604 deaths. Egypt has recorded around 95,000 COVID-19 cases while the figure in Nigeria is 45,000. South Africa’s infection figures are the fifth-highest after the […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Seventeen people, including eight children, have been killed in flash floods and by lightning in Yemen’s northern Marib region, health authorities said Tuesday. The fierce storms have added to the woes of the war-torn country, which the UN has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Five years of conflict has left swathes of the country in ruins. “Sixteen people drowned and another person was killed after being […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Sixteen staff members at Beirut’s port, the site of a massive explosion, have been detained over the deadly blast that devastated large parts of the city, a military prosecutor said Thursday. Lebanese authorities had announced an investigation into Tuesday’s explosion, which they said was triggered by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse at Beirut’s port. Lebanon’s foreign minister said on French radio Thursday that an […]
by Paul HANDLEY / Ludovic EHRET in Beijing WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe warned his US counterpart in a phone call Thursday to avoid firing up bilateral tensions, a day after Washington angered Beijing by announcing it would send a senior official to visit Taiwan. Wei told US Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a 90-minute phone call to “stop erroneous words and deeds” and “avoid taking dangerous moves that may […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected flood damage in North Hwanghae province and ordered food and supplies to help affected residents, state news agency KCNA said Friday. There have been days of heavy rain across parts of North Korea, which is vulnerable to flooding as many mountains and hills have long been stripped of vegetation, allowing water to flow downhill unchecked. The area, south of Pyongyang, is a major […]
